Addressing the problem of fake news
Banning fake news on social media is an idea that would need money for enforcement
As part of a series, the Star looks more closely at a new report by the International News Media Association: How to Decode the Publisher-Platform Relationship identifies seven issues as the most concerning to publishers in the digital age. Today, fake news and ads.
Fabricated news items have spread rampantly on social media, which many also use to try to discredit legitimate journalism as fake news. Look no further than U.S. President Donald Trump and his attacks on The New York Times as an example of how fake news can foster mistrust of the media.
Amid the growth of fake news, Google and Facebook have been found guilty by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission and the European Commission of incorrectly reporting advertising metrics.
This creates trouble for publishers who aren’t just competing with tech giants for advertising contracts, but are also often reselling Google and Facebook products to clients and face issues of credibility when their clients’ ads are inadvertently published alongside fake news on these platforms.
Possible solution: Adopt uniform laws on fake news and hate speech. France and New Zealand are moving toward adopting policies that could ban hate speech, force it to be removed and even fine the platforms that host it.
The International News Media Association would like to see such measures replicated worldwide and applied to fake news too.
Implementing such policies would make platforms liable for the spread of misinformation, but mean governments would need to invest more in enforcement.